Rochester Christian University is partnering with Pepperdine University in a $7.5 million grant Pepperdine received from Lilly Foundation Inc. to empower and equip congregations in rural areas and small towns by providing professional development, networking and spiritual support.
The grant for RCU is part of Pepperdine University’s national program to strengthen the leadership of ministers and lay leaders in small town and rural churches, funded by the gift from the Lilly Endowment.
The $400,000 grant will help RCU identify, recruit and partner with Church of Christ congregations in the Great Lakes region. Each congregational cohort will contain a mixture of ministers and lay leaders who will embark on a communal learning and equipping journey, which includes six weekend intensives taught by Dr. Keith Huey, grant program director.
Dr. Naomi Walters, dean of RCU’s School of Theology and Ministry, will oversee the initiative. “Ministers are tired, concerned about long-term congregational vitality, and convinced that the future of most congregations will include a significant reliance on volunteers to teach, preach and engage in other practices of ministry,” she said. “The grant activities are structured to equip persons other than the minister to share in the work that has traditionally been assigned to the minister.”
The three-year project, which will begin in August 2025, will focus on:
- Leadership Preparation and Support: Providing university-level biblical education for lay leaders and ministers.
- Congregational Strength and Vitality: Inviting lay leaders into the cohorts alongside ministers so that capability and curiosity will be more diffused throughout the congregation.
- Community Involvement and Collaboration: Helping the congregation discern the ways God is already working within its local community and how God might be calling them to partner in that work.
For more information, email churchrelations@rcu.edu.
